Monday, February 28, 2011

This is what we drove through on the way to the house bright and early Saturday morning... too soon it all melted and turned to mud and gunk...

We each had our list...

Rich's list...

Master Bathroom...

That was his entire list and um...he didn't finish it... Ok..I really didn't expect the master bathroom to be finished this weekend...but it would have been nice...remember we are without a shower..as in..NO SHOWER...NO TUB...gross...

This is what he DID get done...

All the nasty floor has been removed...

At some point there had been a water leak...the floor was all soggy...and rotted...

that black hole was where the shower drain was...

New sub floor...

new electric.. Right is overhead light and fan..Left is GFCI and switch for light over vanity...

Temporary ceiling fixture... notice the new electric box (blue)

My list?

First up is pull all the carpet staples out of the wood living room floor. This has to be done before we start laying floor and it was something I could do and be called away if necessary to help Rich in the bathroom. It took a couple of hours of me scooting across the floor with a screwdriver, hammer and needle nose pliers, but it's done now.

We have been using the dining room as our workshop...So now that all the staples are gone I started moving the workshop to the living room... I spent a lot of time walking back and forth between the two.. and my legs are hurting this morning...

all the tools are organized...

paint and supplies...

The dining room was in pretty good condition when we purchased the house. It had new sub floors, drywall up on the upper part of the walls and 1/2 inch plywood installed on the lower part of the walls. We decided that I would start working in there until Rich needed my help putting up a little wall in the bathroom.

All that is left is one work table and the drywall compound..

That one piece of drywall wasn't screwed into anything..so we need to add a few shim pieces and put that up. I got the first coat of drywall mudd on walls and ceiling. We will install bead board and add a chair rail.
It was already wired for wall sconces and since we have a buffet we will keep them. And our dining room table is big...we can sit 8 comfortably and 10 if we squeeze in...

And that is it for work...

Last weekend I forgot to get a photo of the back of the bar area in the kitchen...

We are searching for bar stools now...

And I COOKED...

I used the oven for lunch Saturday..

Ok, it's not really cooking, but I did heat up some fish squares for sandwiches...sorry about the glare..I used aluminum foil over a foil pan...I want to be able to reuse the pan...it's the only one I have out there right now. Except for the electric skillet...which I used Sunday morning to make breakfast!!! Link sausage, eggs and toast...

And I got a double yolk!! Doesn't that mean something?? Like double happiness or something?? It did mean I needed another piece of toast to soak up all that goodness... And yes...I am using my electric skillet on top of the stove..I use an electric skillet for everything..I go through about one a year...

I planned on cooking dinner, but we realized we needed to go look and measure vanities, sinks and showers so we could get all the electric in the right place, so we ate out..at Steak-n-Shake..where they lost our order and it took forever to get our food..but I love their steakburgers.. and we found a vanity and the right shower after looking at Low's, Home Depot and Menards, so it was a productive trip...

Monday, February 21, 2011

This is the underside of the counter top where the dishwasher will go. Do you know what happens to this area after you have used your dishwasher for awhile? The steam from the dishwasher will start to warp the pressed wood and it will start to swell. Now, this won't happen if you have solid counter tops such as Corian or Marble or some other solid surface. I wasn't going to use my money on counter tops so we have laminate. I love them. My brother-in-law told me to get some black oil based paint and paint the underside of the counter top. It will keep the wood from swelling and warping.. I would like him to know that I did it..I would also like him to know that I still have paint on my left knee. Not quite sure how that happened as I had on long pants. But that's ok...cause the wood is sealed and the paint on my left knee will wear away eventually.

isn't it pretty...

While the paint was drying we started installing the sink. We installed the faucet and hooked up all the water lines and then put clear acrylic seal down around the opening.

Oh, we also attached the disposal..

And then we had to do this...

We realized AFTER we set the sink down into the hole, we didn't have a small enough screwdriver to work the sink clips so off to town we went...

This kitchen is now done!! Well, except for the floor.... The stove works, the sink works, the dishwasher works, and the Fridge is even in the right space...

I have removed all the plastic...and stickers...

Next up is the master bathroom...

Let's look at that bathroom...

oh who uses this wallpaper...

nasty shower, but it was all we had...

EMPTY....GUTTED....BARE...VOID... DEPLETED...DESERTED...DESOLATE...

AND WE ARE EXHAUSTED...

We have capped off water lines, capped and removed the stack, removed the toilet, shower, vanity, and cabinet over the toilet that we realized was hanging UPSIDE DOWN....

We took measurements and have now drawn out the bathroom on graph paper and cut out a little shower and toilet and vanity...and are rearranging them on paper...

We need to order tile, buy light fixtures, a toilet, a shower, a vanity, and decide the final placement..

Monday, February 14, 2011

Yea...it didn't snow, so that meant that Rich's brother-in-law (the same one with the gross smashed finger) and sister came out to help us put in the kitchen counter tops. They arrived promptly at 9am and brought food... Isn't it nice when you get volunteer help AND they bring lunch? Donna brought Italian Beef Sandwiches and Cole Slaw... Very Good!! And I tried the Cole Slaw. And liked it. I've never tried Cole Slaw before. I like cabbage, but didn't think I would like cole slaw... Recipe at the end of the post...for the beef...I have to assume that everyone else has a favorite cole slaw recipe, although I don't..

yea, a STOVE!!

the walls aren't straight...at all..so instead of trimming the back of the counter top, they decided to punch a hole in the drywall and slide the counter top into it..it worked!

the tools of the day

oh my gosh...i LOVE it..

left side. See the bump out? I need to find some stools..so the grandkids can have breakfast at the bar when they spend the night. Or maybe they can come for the day and make cookies...or cupcakes...or teach me to can..which Rich thinks I need to learn since we will live in the country..

My BIL went back and got my sink, unwrapped it and I got to see what it will look like next weekend when it gets installed and there is WATER!! In. the. kitchen. .. no more washing dishes in the shower or the sink..

Saturday was Rich's birthday. I got him the mug for Christmas and the shirt for his birthday..If you double click you can read what it says...or maybe you aren't as old as I am and you can read it without double clicking. If so, don't tell me..

And if you clicked on the finger link up there, here is an update. Doesn't look near as bad.

And I painted...This is the crown molding that is in the living room and kitchen. Because of construction that we have done, we had some to replace. OMGoodness...we looked everywhere for this profile. Lowe's didn't have it, Home Depot didn't have it, none of the smaller hardware stores had it...finally we found it at Menards.

Of course when we found it, it was solid oak. So sad that I have to paint over oak, but it has to match..

I also finished painting all the windows, trim, sashing and anything else windows have...

And now for the Italian Beef Recipe....

Italian Beef

by Donna

4 1/2 lb beef tip roast

1 can (14 1/2 oz) beef broth

1 can (12 oz) beer or additional beef broth

1 cup water

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 envelope onion soup mix

1 envelope italian salad dressing mix

1 garlic clove minced

1 1/2 teaspoon dired oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

Place roast in slow cooker, combine all ingredients and pour over roast. Cook covered on low 7-8 hours or till tender. Romove roast and when cool enough to handle, shred meat using 2 forks. Return to slow cooker and heat through. Serve on split french bread rolls and serve sauce as a dipping sauce. Serves 10

EDIT - Rich wants you to know he finished installing all the window trim...

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

You might have heard about the big snowstorm in the Midwest (and all points east and north) last week? At one house we had an official record of 11 inches. This other house is about 60 miles west and had 16-18 inches of snow. That is just ridiculous... Here is the road leading to our house.

And here is how you plow your driveway when you don't have a plow, don't know your neighbors, and call everyone you know to see if they know someone that knows someone that might have a truck with a plow. I call it the redneck plow and here is what you do. First you drive to town and get another snow shovel. Then you park the truck on the county road and dig the driveway out at the end. Just a spot as big as the truck.. THEN...You put the truck in 4-wheel drive and start backing down the driveway. You don't go slow..you gun it and back up about 10 feet, then shift into drive and go forward, then shift into reverse and go back another 10 feet.. You just keep repeating this until you get close to the house. Our drive is about 100 feet long so it took a bit. I stood on the road and watched and dang it the camera was in the truck so no video.

Here are the tracks in the driveway..

And here is the front porch after shoveling... we didn't do the whole walkway, just a path to get to the house.

And here is proof of the snow... isn't that ridiculous...

Anyway, it was nice and warm inside and I got right to painting. I will be ever so happy when all the painting is done.

More window trim...

But our plans were changed with the snow. Our free help couldn't make it out to the house so we couldn't put in the kitchen counter tops. So we did this instead...

a door

a floor and baseboard..

a working toilet

a vanity with running water

and a mirror with lights...

It's our first room that is almost completely done. I love it.. I need a towel rack above that toilet and a bit of something on the wall..and I just bought a free standing toilet paper holder to put in the corner..

We did get some of that trim put up... and I did some painting on the window sills and sashing.

And there might have been some pizza and cupcakes on Saturday...when somebody might have had a birthday..